Report: Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden making 'health' announcement

TALLAHASSEE -- According to a tweet late Monday night from a news anchor at a Tallahassee television station, former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is set to make an "emotional" announcement Tuesday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America." The tweet says it is about his health.

In an email to the Sentinel, Bowden's publicist Kimberly Shiff said the information was supposed to be embargoed until Tuesday morning. As a result, she said she couldn't provide any details on the matter.

FSU officials have not made a comment.

The tweets in question came from WTXL news anchor Anne Imanuel's @AnneImanuel account. They read:

"Bobby Bowden scheduled to make an 'emotional' announcement on @GMA tomorrow morning. Working to get details!"

And: "Just spoke to an @GMA producer. The Bobby Bowden 'emotional announcement' won't be released until tomorrow AM but it concerns his health."

While the news was causing an uproar on Twitter, FSU fans chimed in with their concerns that something was wrong with Bowden. Some members of the FSU media tried to calm their fears, saying that the announcement had nothing to do with Bowden's health, but that it was important.

The award goes to the nation's top assistant coach every year. Bowden's former defensive coordinator, Mickey Andrews, won the first Broyles Award.

Bowden has found himself in the news recently for other reasons.

In addition to an autograph session at a landmark Tallahassee store last Friday ahead of the Seminoles' second game of the season against Charleston Southern, he was in Gainesville the previous Saturday to announce the creation of a new college football all-star game.

Bowden was attending Florida's season-opener against Florida Atlantic to hold a news conference about a game he and fellow coaching icon Howard Schnellenberger were heading. Schnellenberger is in his final season at FAU, but he originally made a name for himself as Miami's head coach in the 1980s, when his Hurricanes and Bowden's Seminoles had their share of epic rivalry games.

There was an uproar about Bowden's appearance there, too, as some FSU fans questioned why he was in Gainesville for a rival's opening game, instead of at FSU at the field that bears his name. He has said since stepping away from the sport in Jan. 2010 that he wishes to build a buffer between he and FSU, and that he doesn't want to get in the way of current coachJimbo Fisher.

Bowden spent 34 seasons coaching the Seminoles before an emotional, rocky and rather dramatic exit from football following the 2009 season. Since being replaced by Fisher, Bowden has spent his time traveling the world giving speeches and promoting a book.

In 1993 and '99, Bowden led the Seminoles to their only national titles.

On Saturday, the No. 5 Seminoles, under Fisher's guidance, are hosting No. 1 Oklahoma -- on ABC, no less -- in what is being billed as one of the biggest games to ever occur at Doak Campbell Stadium. It is the first time the nation's current No. 1 team has visited the stadium since Florida did in 1996.

The last team not from Florida to bring a top-5 ranking to Tallahassee was Dan Marino's No. 4 Pittsburgh team in 1980. Marino later went on to have a 16-year Hall of Fame career for the Miami Dolphins.